hi Kwun, What bike are you riding ? maybe we can have some bike talk in this site? I use to ride a bike to play badminton . Mine is honda cb400 road bike .Tell me some abt yours.
Ha ha ha ... Wong, You really got Kwun all wrong there .. he rides a bike without the engine ... Kwun, What bike do you ride ?? I believe its a Road Bike ?? I've just set up my Colnago CT-1, maybe we can exchange some notes ??
that's right Gladius. i prefer my bike's engine to be my legs and my heart. and a little bit of "mind" as well, but the mind is usually just doing moral support than real work. CT-1. wow, nice. how about a picture? i ride a Litespeed Tuscany w/ Chorus.
Wow Kwun and Gladius you both have very expensive taste in roadbikes! Me - an ancient Trek OCLV with Ultegra gruppo. Anyone who ever tells you that a carbon fiber bike is a comfortable bike to ride is a liar. The frame is so stiff that you can tell red ant from black when you run over one! Good thing about though is that it doesn't corrode and it is stiff and light. Sandvik titanium frame or Columbus / Reynold steel frame gives much, much forgiving ride. Good choice both of you!
ayl hahaha, i think you'll agreed that stiffer frame is more responsive and give better control, very desirable bike frame qualities when trying to swish road ants if the scenery gets boring
Hi Kwun, Yes, mine is a 56cm Centre-to-Top CT-1 in Colnago CTB scheme on Dura-ace with FliteDeck and the works. But Ultegra SPD-R pedals. I have to say its ride quality is light years ahead of my previous bike. A Peugeot using Reynolds 653 tubes which I had for 6 years. Really taut and responsive ride. Yet the Carbon forks and stays soak up most of the little irregularities of the road surface.... really smooth feeling. Its not a false impression definitely as I'm still using my old set of wheels. A custom set-up by a friend of mine. Nothing really fantastic, but its as light as a self-assembled wheelset should get. A pair of Mavic CXP 12 on Ultegra hubs. 28 spokes, straight pull. Running on Continental Grand Prix tyres. ( not the GP 3000) I've had them for some 3 years and some 4000km now ..... still holding well. Yes I know, 4000km in 3 years is peanuts, but I've laid off almost 2 years due to my hand injury ..... So in effect its about 1.5 years, not exactly too bad .... Think I'll mail you a shot instead. I'll do it from the office tomorrow .... My 56kbs modem does not respond too well....
Yes, yes, its a common fallacy ... How well a bike rides is not as dependent on the material so much as it is on the geometry, the tuning, the complete package. As most non-technical people never realise, like in badminton rackets, the same amount of material applied and layered differently produces rackets ( likewise bike frames ) with dramatically different characteristics !! If you've tried some of the European Aluminium bikes, they are not as harsh as some people make aluminium bikes to be !! However, U.S. built bikes are often tuned towards their own market, that is the Criterium Race. Which means bikes with tight angles and really stiff responsive handling. And climbs well. Quite unlike European makes which are tuned towards long rides and a multitude of different riding conditions. For example, a top of the line model from say Pinarello, Colnago or Look is often good enough to climb up the Pyreness while handles comfortably smooth for the ride down the other side. But not quite true when you try that with makes like Cannondale, Trek or Klein. Usually they let you fly up a climb, but is twitchy like hell on high speed decends. ( Not always true, but more often than not .... ) Not so sure about Litespeed though as not that many people here in Singapore rides them as they are REALLY expensive... Kwun's Tuscany (without fork ) costs more than my CT-1 with a Force fork !!
Re: ayl Cooler, A stiffer frame is more responsive, but how well a bike handles is more dependent on the geometry rather than the stiffness. If you have super-stiff frame with a long say 1250mm wheel base and a slack 65 degree steer angle and a 60mm rake, try wheeling it in and out of heavy traffic .... Its a potential recipe for disaster !!!
gladius no argument here. yes, fitting oneself to a correct frame configuration would yield better control than a stiffer bike. I had assumed that we all started out with a properly fitted bike and was comparing materials alone. You guys have exotic taste. I myself not an Al fan anyway due to its long term weakness.
Re: gladius Cooler, Think you got me wrong there too .. What I meant was the inherant geometry of the bike, not how on would specify components like stem, seatpost, handlebar, crank length etc, etc ...
Gladius, good choice for the wheels. i am not a fan of "boutique wheels" myself. i run a pair of 28 spokes OpenPro + Chorus hubs. have you tried the GP3000 tires? that's by far the best tires i've used. soft feel, but rolls very smoothly with little resistance. as for the cost of my Tuscany, it comes with a story, it costs me much less than the street price. it was a used frame, a Chicago shop bought it for his customer, but his customer decided not to get it. he, at a rage over the matter, decided to just sell the painted frame+fork for US$1000. it just happened that i was heading to Chicago for a business trip that weekend, so i got it from him. a very nice guy, he even drove to my hotel to deliver it! i used to ride a Cannondale CAAD3 frame. the Tuscany is much eaiser on my backside/nerves. i rode a couple of centuries on my CAAD3. and it was a very painful experience. 3,000km is quite decent. i have done less than that in the past 3 years, may be around 2000km. it is quite a shame really. i used to ride at least that much in a year when i was back in grad school. unfortunately, after i have started work, other things (like badminton) takes priority.
Hi Kwun, Yes, I like the wheels as they are. But I'm thinking of picking up a pair of Ksyrium SL's . Maybe not so soon since I don't really need them yet. Wow !!! That's a pretty incredible price !! It'll normally be in the range of US$1600 without the forks I believe ?? Well, I got mine second hand too ... From the UK via a friend for a paltry US$1300 Frame and Fork! And it came 99.99% new !! Thanks for appreciating the bike decor ... The paint job partly sold me the thing actually ...
